New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted
New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted after a federal corruption probe, The New York Times first reported on Wednesday.
The charges have not yet been made public because the indictment remains sealed, per The Times.
Federal prosecutors are set to reveal the indictment details on Thursday, the outlet reported.
The mayor has been the center of a long-running investigation into fundraising efforts during his 2021 campaign — and whether it involved money from foreign nations like Turkey.
In 2023, agents also raided the home of Adams’ fundraising chief, Brianna Suggs. They seized three iPhones, two laptops, and a manila folder labeled “Eric Adams,” The Times reported in November.
“It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies,” Adams said in a videotaped statement provided to The Times and New York Daily News.
Adams added that he thought the charges were “unsurprising.”
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams, 64, said in the video. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty.”
The mayor was at his official residence, Gracie Mansion, when news of the indictment broke, CNN reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.
Adams’ lawyers also met with senior DOJ officials last week to discuss ways to resolve the matter without criminal charges being brought, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the meeting.
In a Wednesday statement to the New York Post, Adams also said that he is innocent, and plans to fight the indictment “with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
Adams is now facing pressure to resign from within his party. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for one, called for him to step down on Wednesday.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an X post.
“The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function,” she wrote. “Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.”
“For the good of the city, he should resign,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Other people who have called for him to step down include Scott Stringer, a former New York City comptroller and 2021 mayoral candidate, and Brad Lander, the current New York City comptroller.
State Senators Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn and John Liu of Queens also said Adams should resign.
Stringer, Lander, and Myrie are all in the race to unseat Adams in the Democratic primary next June — a fight that may have just become an uphill battle for the beleaguered incumbent.
Even if Adams doesn’t resign, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove him from office, the NYT reports. If that happens, the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would take Adams’ place as acting mayor.
Representatives of Adams didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from B-17, sent outside business hours. Representatives of the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
